'I acted spoiled' - £26m Everton striker Beto reveals why he worked at KFC on long journey to Premier League stardom

Beto’s football journey didn’t begin in one of the gilded academies often associated with Premier League talent. He was given just a year within Benfica’s youth setup before being released at age 14. That moment could have spelt the end of his dreams, and for a while, it nearly did.

Over the next two years, Beto struggled to find consistent opportunities in football. With little exposure to competitive training environments, his development stalled. But rather than giving up, he took a different route, one that would shape his character more than any academy ever could.

As the path to professional football dimmed, Beto focused on helping his family and found a job at KFC.

“It was good. I always wanted to earn my own money. Until I was 15 or 16, I acted spoiled. I tried to have what my friends in school had, and I didn’t have the awareness that my mum couldn’t afford things," he said in an interview with The Athletic.

As a teen, he admitted to being unaware of his mother’s financial struggles. He would come home asking for things he saw his peers receive, like a driver’s license, without realising the burden such requests placed on his mother.

“My friend would say his dad paid for his driving licence, and I would go home and ask my mum for a driving licence. Now, with time, I see the things that my mum personally went through for me and my sisters," he added.

Apart from working in KFC, one of his earliest jobs was landscaping, cutting weeds in the forest. He vividly recalls the pride of earning €300 for a month’s worth of labour and handing it over to his mother to help with household expenses.

“The first job I did was working in the woodland, cutting the weeds," he said. "I did one month of work, they paid me €300. Every day, I was happy to go to work because I knew I would have my reward. I gave my mum some of it to help her pay the bills. She wanted me to go through college, but I told her I can’t go. It was too boring. I just didn’t have interest at all. I would go there and want to sleep. One thing was sure; if I was not going to college, I would not be allowed to sit at home. I needed to put money in the house.”

For a club steeped in working-class heritage, Beto’s journey strikes a deeply emotional chord with the Toffees. He’s not just another big-money signing; he’s someone who’s lived through hardship, worked for every opportunity and now wears the shirt of one of England’s most historic clubs. Beto’s next challenge will come on August 3, when Everton face Manchester United in the Premier League Summer Series in the United States.